19 Frightening Foods You Eat Daily

You won't believe what scary ingredients are in the foods you eat every day.

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2/20

Castoreum

Why It's Gross: If you think you are eating an animal-free meal when you have something with artificial raspberry flavor, think again! Castoreum, an additive to many foods including raspberry-flavored products, is taken from the castor sacs of beavers. Along with urine, beavers excrete castoreum to mark their territory.

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3/20

Silicon Dioxide

Why It's Gross: What do salt, soup and coffee creamer have in common? All often contain silicon dioxide or sand.

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4/20

TBHQ/Butane

Why It's Gross: Chicken nuggets along with most packaged items contain tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a form of Butane which comes from petroleum. While this chemical helps to keep food fresh, in higher doses, it can cause delirium, suffocation and nausea.

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5/20

Carmine

Why It's Gross: There is more than meets the eye in food with a nice red hue. The red food coloring, carmine, is made from boiled cochineal bugs (or beetles). According to Health.com, this type of food coloring can be found in ice cream, lemonade and even grapefruit juice.

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6/20

Dehydrated Spinach Dust

Why It's Gross: Bags of crunchy bite-sized snacks claiming to be healthy veggie chips often feature veggies in their least nutritious form. The green color of these snacks is typically created from powdered spinach dust, dehydrated spinach devoid of any nutrition.

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7/20

Cellulose

Why It's Gross: According to Health.com, cellulose, typically obtained from wood pulp and cotton, is commonly added to shredded cheese (to keep the pieces from sticking together) and to ice cream.

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8/20

Arsenic

Why It's Gross: While trace amounts of arsenic are found in a wide variety of foods, according to The Guardian, some beers contain twice the amount of arsenic allowed in drinking water due to their filtration process.

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9/20

Fish Bladder

Why It's Gross: Arsenic isn't the only unusual ingredient found in beer. Isinglass, or fish bladder, is used to remove haziness in certain beers.

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10/20

Shellac

Why It's Gross: While shellac gives foods a lovely shine, its true colors are anything but shiny. The coating, often used on jelly beans and candy corn, is made from secretions of the insect Kerria Iacca.

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11/20

Estrogen

Why It's Gross: According to a study published in the Med Hypotheses journal, estrogen in milk has links to prostate cancer. As Westerners enjoy more dairy, we have also seen increased levels of prostate cancer.

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12/20

Wood Pulp

Why It's Gross: Vanillin, created from wood pulp, is an artificial vanilla flavor and serves to keep flavor consistent in citrusy sodas.

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13/20

Hair from Rodents

Why It's Gross: While not purposely added to foods, would you believe that the FDA allows for small amounts of rodent hair to be present in some of our favorite foods? According to The Guardian, every 100 grams of chocolate can contain one rodent hair, every 100 grams of cinnamon can contain 22 rodent hairs and every 18 ounce jar of peanut butter can contain five rodent hairs.

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14/20

Gelatin

Why It's Gross: This extremely common ingredient is actually made from animal skins. According to Health.com, most desserts with gelatin are made with pig skin, but gelatin can vary depending on the type of food. Gelatin can be found in everything from frosted cereals to yogurt to sour cream.

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15/20

Propylene glycol

Why It's Gross: Also found in antifreeze, propylene glycol helps combine ingredients that don't mix well on their own. Salad dressings and sodas are among the items that often feature this agent.

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16/20

L-Cysteine

Why It's Gross: Used to give foods like breads longer shelf lives, L-Cysteine is more often made from human hair! According to The Guardian, most of that hair comes from trimmings left at hair salons in China.

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17/20

BPA

Why It's Gross: Bisphenol A, better known as BPA, still exists in many canned goods. The more acidic the canned food, the higher the chance that BPA may be seeping into the food. According to Time, evidence exists that children often exposed to BPA could develop kidney and cardiovascular problems. Additionally, the chemical is thought to affect fetuses and newborns as well.

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18/20

Yellow #5

Why It's Gross: In England, any product containing this ingredient must come with a warning label. In the U.S., it is simply hidden within the ingredient list. The dye comes from coal tar and has been said to cause hyperactivity in children.

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19/20

Ammonia

Why It's Gross: You know ammonia from your house cleaning supplies, but did you know it may also be in your meat? Beginning in 2001, processing plants began to use ammonia to kill bacteria on typically bacteria-laden beef trimmings. Then, these meat trimmings are used as filler in some ground beefs.

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20/20

Saltwater

Why It's Gross: In foods like packaged chicken, saltwater is often injected to make the meat plumper and heavier. Sodium levels in pieces of chicken which have been injected with saltwater are five times higher than standard pieces.

While many think chemicals and pesticides on produce are some of the worst things for you in the grocery store, you won't believe what else is hidden within its aisles. Processed foods may not be exposed to pesticides like produce, but some of the ingredients purposefully added to packaged foods are truly shocking.

From disgusting animal ingredients in foods widely considered to be vegetarian to "healthy" snacks that lack any ounce of nutrition, you may be surprised to learn what is really in your favorite foods.